TalentFirst is partnering with Adult Education within the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, Workforce Development (LEO-WD) to develop and administer the Section 107a Adult Education Innovation Programs, which are intended to pilot innovative approaches to better serve adult learners and potentially pave the way for increased investment in adult education. To fulfill that responsibility, TalentFirst is offering the Adult Education Innovation Design Lab for interested adult education providers in Michigan.
The Adult Education Innovation Design Lab will assist eligible adult education providers, community colleges, and organizations with experience serving adult learners with the capacity and technical expertise to develop proposals intended to satisfy the eligibility criteria for Section 107a grants from LEO-WD. The Adult Education Innovation Design Lab is optional; attendees are not guaranteed to receive Section 107a funding as a result of participation. Instead, the Design Lab will provide technical experts at no charge to providers to help develop high-quality proposals that meet the parameters of the 107a RFP.
Applicants interested in participating in the Adult Education Innovation Design Lab will be required to submit an interest form to TalentFirst by 5 PM on December 3, 2024, including:
All interested applicants will have the opportunity to participate in the Adult Education Innovation Design Labs. The interest form serves as a method to gather information from attendees required to deliver customized support through the Design Lab.
Materials from the workshops are available on our resources page.
Meeting MaterialsAll interested applicants will have the opportunity to participate in the Design Lab. The interest form serves as a method to gather information from attendees required to deliver customized support through the Design Lab.
To complete the Adult Education Innovation Design Lab process, and subsequently develop a proposal to be considered by LEO-WD for a 107a grant, each applicant will work with the technical experts provided by TalentFirst to complete the following elements during the 2-month planning process:
The goals are broken down into two categories. The first for the Design Lab itself, and the second for Design Lab attendees.
Attendees should expect the following commitments as part of this process:
Approximately 28 hours of staff time throughout the 3-month process, allocated as follows:
Virtual meetings to engage in planning.
Attendees are encouraged to dedicate at least one hour per week to continue to develop and refine their proposals independently, using the concepts and insights shared during Design Lab workshops and coaching.
Attendees will be expected to share design concepts, challenges, and solutions to overcome with TalentFirst and technical experts, and will be asked to share high-level ideas and challenges during Design Lab workshops (detailed proposals will not be shared with other applicants to prevent concerns with competitive grant applications).
Each Design Lab workshop will feature a different theme and focus on different elements of the Section 107a application. Attendees are not required to attend all four workshops, but it is highly recommended. Each workshop be hosted virtually.
The tentative Design Lab schedule is outlined below. Exact dates will be confirmed and shared with attendees.
This program is designed to assist eligible adult education providers, community colleges, and organizations with experience serving adult learners with the capacity and expertise to design innovative proposals that will boost enrollment and completion rates of adult basic education programs. It does not provide any funding directly to the provider, nor directly fund the implementation of any proposed system changes. The Design Lab is not intended to replace staff and leadership engagement in planning, but is meant to supplement and enhance existing resources to plan and develop an innovative proposal within the parameters of the Section 107a RFP administered by LEO-WD.